We thought we’d indulge in a bit of a blast about some of the UK’s most popular Social Media meeting places today on talkToshiba – while we prepare the ground for tomorrow’s special feature, profiling one of our favourite presences out in the space.

We’ve been browsing Twitter (you can follow us there for almost instant blog updates if you so desire) and noted a couple of interesting points. Firstly, Karl Goddard who runs the Learning ICT blog, who we can only imagine has picked up perhaps a Satellite P200 and seems particularly happy with his purchase - “now playing with shiny new Toshiba laptop… monster 17″ screen, fullsize kboard im even likin Vista - but no built in web cam - pics later!”

Meanwhile, Usha Vencatachallam too has informed followers via his ‘tweetery’ that he is having fun with Toshiba too “Sony Vaio just upped and died. Toshiba is my new best friend. Making a snap laptop decision is not as bad as I imagined.” John from vivaveracruz however has managed to get his trip back in order, thanks to Toshiba and his sister-in-law. “While our return to New Mexico has been delayed because my new laptop died and needed attending to, I borrowed a fine seldom used Toshiba laptop from my sister-in-law.”

A cursory glance at Facebook reveals 1,441 Toshiba fans keen to express their opinion of the brand – and Wasim Arshad has expressed his thoughts on one model particularly. “I have had my Toshiba Equium M40X-189 laptop for around 3 years now and it has never become physically faulty! It’s brilliant!!”

Finally – does anyone run a Toshiba laptop with Linux? Zeke certainly does, and stumbled upon this fascinating article with advice on just that…

We’re always big fans of having tech news headlines delivered to us through the medium of video, and it seems that megawhat.tv have been talking a lot of Toshiba today! Pouncing on the new DVD Download DL logo that was recently approved by the Toshiba led DVD forum committee meeting, presenter Katie Scott gives us her thoughts on what this could mean for the DVD/Blu-ray market. We’re keeping tight-lipped, but her speculation leads to plenty of interesting questions.

Skip to about 2:10 minutes on the video to get to the really juicy Toshiba story.

Kevin O’Brien has written a rather hefty review of the Satellite P305D over at NotebookReview.com, in which he “compares [it] to its smaller siblings as well as other 17-inch notebooks” - giving the notebook a good going over on it’s own terms.

Beginning with the Satellite’s build and design, Kevin comments on how “glossy” the fusion finish makes the notebook and how its durability keeps scuffs at bay. “Build quality is excellent in most areas” writes Kevin, apart from the “rough edges around the screen frame, where the two plastic pieces meet”, which Kevin compares to the A305 and A305D.

He’s also a fan of the flush touchpad area “which is surprisingly slick with its textured surface” and likes the new chromed oval touchpad buttons which are “easier to trigger”. Though he finds the WXGA+ glossy LCD display “average”, “Screen backlight brightness was more than adequate”, after which Kevin does some detailed performance comparisons with other laptops. He concludes “I really love the layout, solid build quality, and features of this notebook” but does think it has “Relatively low performance for a relatively high budget price”, which is his only main gripe.

Read the full review in all it’s glory here.

Si vous ne le saviez pas déjà, l’équipe de talkToshiba est à Paris aujourd’hui, accompagné par 4 de nos lecteurs fidèles, pour participer à l’événement ‘Regardez de plus près’.

Invité par Toshiba, ils participeront à cet événement exclusif ou des responsables-clés du service design de Toshiba feront des présentations. Ils ont déjà entendu le discours d’ouverture, qui a promis beaucoup plus que des lumières bling bling – nous aurons à la place des ordinateurs portables conçus avec émotion.

Alors, pour en découvrir davantage, utiliser le lien dans la boîte noire à droit, et rester dans le coup sur tout ce qui passent en ce moment même à Paris.

Oh la la! Noch mehr extravagante Designs wurden auf dem „Take a Closer Look“ in Paris enthüllt, diese Limited Edition Satellite P300’s sind aufgetaucht. Das Design stammt von solchen umwerfend coolen Innovatoren wie Agnes B, Superkitsch und Ajun Park.

Sie werden nur in Frankreich verfügbar sein – sind aber Ideal für alle Dalmatiner Liebhaber, Street-Art Freunde und natürlich alle die sich einfach vom Rest abheben wollen.

Für mehr Bilder schaut bitte auf unserer Flickr Seite vorbei.

Oh la la! More extravagant designs have just been uncovered at the ‘Take a Closer Look’ event in Paris, with these limited-edition Satellite P300’s popping up. Designed by the likes of jaw-droppingly cool innovators Agnes B, Superkitsch and Ajun Park, they will only be available in France – but ideal for Dalmatian lovers and urban art fans - amongst others who just like to look hip on the train.

To get an eyeful of the full images, just check out our Flickr account.

Mit soviel Diskussionen über Style und Design, lag es Nahe, dass Toshiba “Take a Closer Look” nutzte um ihren neusten Laptop zu veröffentlichen. Der ‘ Portégé M800 ‘ – von den technischen Daten dem Satellite U400 sehr ähnlich, aber mit ein ‚Style to Go’ –also sehr handlich.

Das Display erscheint trotz der Helligkeit nicht glänzend, sondern leuchtet eher in einem kühlen Weiß. Dieses Model wurde durch die Automobilindustrie inspiriert und mit den aktuellsten Trends im Hinterkopf entworfen - besonders an der Vorliebe für die Farbe Weiß ist die Autoindustrie gut wieder zuerkennen.

Die Markteinführung wird im Juni erwartet, zuerst in Frankreich bevor es dann im Juli in den anderen Regionen angeboten wird. Das Toshiba Portégé M800 soll für etwa 1199 Euro in den Handel kommen, je nach gebietstypischen Ausstattungsmerkmalen. Zu Beginn wird es auf der Santa Rosa Plattform angeboten.

Hier ist es … was denkt ihr?

With so much discussion about style and design, it seems fitting that Toshiba have chosen ‘Take a Closer Look’ to launch their latest laptop – the Portégé M800 – a product similar in spec to the Satellite U400, but with style to go.

With all the lights not so much shining, as bathed in a cool white backlit glow, this particular model has been inspired by the automotive industry, and is designed with recent trends in mind – most notably the penchant for the colour white in aforementioned market sector.

Expected to launch in June, first in France before being rolled out to other regions in July, the Toshiba Portégé M800 is expected to retail for around 1,199 Euros, depending on the configuration of the territory. To start with it will be offered on the Santa Rosa platform.

For more images live from the event, jump over to our Flickr account.

And here it is… What do you think?

L’industrie informatique est entrée dans l’âge du style – ce n’est plus seulement une question “de jolies couleurs, de lumières etc.” mais elle est loin, l’époque des ordinateurs portables volumineux stockés en rangs. En 2006, 12% des consommateurs ont déclaré être autant concernés par le look de leur ordinateur portable que par sa performance. En 2007, ce chiffre est passé à 23%.

Comment le marché va-t-il s’adapter à ce changement ? Et bien, principalement en se concentrant sur 5 principes, selon JP Gownder, de la société d’études américaine Forrester :

1. Esthétique
2. Interface
3. Ergonomie et fonctionnalité
4. L’émotion derrière le projet
5. Customisation

Selon Gownder, « L’âge du style est aujourd’hui inévitable » . Et avec 54% de Nord-Américains qui prêtent une attention au style quand ils achètent un ordinateur, les chiffres confirment ce constat.

the TalkToshiba team arrives in Paris./L’équipe de TalkToshiba arrive à Paris/Das TalkToshiba Team ist in Paris angekommen.